Yellow Jackets Second, Maroons and Tigers Tight for Third
FOREST, Va. --- The first ODAC Men's Swimming Coaches' Poll in league history is headlined by the only champion the sport has known. Washington and Lee University, winners of the first four men's swimming team titles, collected 81 points including nine first place votes to lead the list of 10 programs. Randolph-Macon College picked up the remaining top nod on the way to 71 tallies. Roanoke College edged Hampden-Sydney College by just four points (64-to-60) for third place.
The growth of ODAC men's swimming got a major boost in 2017-18 with five new squads joining five previously competing institutions. By season's end, both the additional depth and quality were evident over three days at the ODAC Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Still, Washington and Lee proved a class ahead for the fourth straight year as the Generals racked up 1,031.5 points powered by victories in 8-of-13 individual events and all five relays. Randolph-Macon captured first place in the remaining five individual disciplines on the way to 613 points.
Eight combined championship and overall records fell at the 2018 championships. Randolph-Macon standout Victor Kontopanos capped his first season with new overall and championship records in the 200-butterfly (1:51.74). W&L relays accounted for the remaining six new standards. Patrick Sullivan, Corey Connelly, Evan Kramer, and Tommy Thetford combined to set records in the 200-freestyle (1:21.86) and 400-freestyle (3:01.12) relays, while Sullivan, Ethan Fischer, Noah Schammel, and Thetford set new marks in the 200-medley relay (1:31.73).
RELATED: 2018 ODAC Championship Results | ODAC Record Book
Washington and Lee's success continued at the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., as 13 Generals including five men's swimmers competed over four days. All five came home with at least Honorable Mention All-America laurels as they accrued 60.5 total points to place 13th out of 54 teams. Connelly, Kramer, Sullivan, and Thetford set new ODAC and W&L records in the 800-freestyle relay (6:41.18). Thetford, the ODAC Swimmer of the Meet at the conference championships, capped his stellar career with five All-America nods including a seventh place showing in the 50-freestyle (0:20.37) to earn First Team All-America recognition.
RELATED: NCAA Championship Results | ODAC Championship Release
Entering the 2018-19 campaign, league rosters are chock full of new talented recruits in addition to a strong crop of returning athletes. That includes 25-of-35 All-ODAC honorees featuring all 10 from the All-ODAC Third Team and 8-of-13 All-ODAC First Team qualifiers.
Washington and Lee leads all programs with a league-high 11 All-ODAC returners including six first teamers. That latter list includes Ben Brown, Danny Lynch, Jared Nickodem, Fitz Rawls, Sullivan, and Jonathan Tucker. Nickodem and Sullivan combined to win three events at the championships.
The remaining first teamers returning to ODAC waters wear Randolph-Macon colors. Kontopanos and Jordan Witherow are two of five overall All-ODAC Yellow Jackets back in Ashland. Like their W&L counterparts, Kontopanos and Witherow combined to win three individual events.
RELATED: 2018 All-ODAC Swimming Awards
The Greensboro Aquatic Center will again be home to the ODAC Championships in 2019. This season's event is scheduled for February 15-17. The GAC and the ODAC in conjunction with the Greensboro Sports Commission have the added privilege of hosting the 2019 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. That four-day affair is set for March 20-23.
Listed below is the 2018-19 ODAC Men's Swimming Coaches' Poll as well as preview capsules for each of the ODAC men's swimming programs. You can also tune in to a preview interview with Roanoke head coach Scott Thacker. For more information on ODAC men's swimming, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.
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2018-19 Poll Position: 6th Head Coach: Gwynn Harrison Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: None Second Team: None Third Team: None 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 8th | 123.0 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 100 Breaststroke: Alturo Alcazar | 9th | 1:05.34 * 200 Breaststroke: Alturo Alcazar | 11th | 2:26.99 * 100 Butterfly: Matt Young | 12th | 0:58.23 100 Butterfly: Jarratt Davis | 13th | 0:58.57 * 400 IM: Chris Hollie | 13th | 5:37.06 |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 8th Head Coach: Cody Skinner Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: None Second Team: None Third Team: None 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 10th | 40 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 200 Back: Wilson Naff | 3rd | 1:56.78 100 Back: Wilson Naff | 4th | 0:53.92 100 Butterfly: Wilson Naff | 9th | 0:56.51 200 Breaststroke: Evan Thompson-Prillhart | 17th | 2:50.71 100 Breaststroke: Evan Thompson-Prillhart | 20th | 1:17.27 |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 7th Head Coach: Margaret Parcell Bisnett Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: None Second Team: None Third Team: Taylor Darnell 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 7th | 155 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 1650 Free: Taylor Darnell | 5th | 18:25.86 * 100 Breaststroke: Preston Collie | 7th | 1:04.55 100 Butterfly: Taylor Darnell | 10th | 0:56.60 * 100 Breaststroke: Jacob Blaukovitch | 13th | 1:08.12 * 200 Breaststroke: Jacob Blaukovitch | 13th | 2:30.15 * |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 9th Head Coach: Jim Sheridan Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: None Second Team: None Third Team: Anis Yahi 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 6th | 181 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 100 Breaststroke: Anis Yahi | 5th | 1:01.41 * 200 Breaststroke: Anis Yahi | 5th | 2:13.78 * 1650 Free: Nolan Faucette | 9th | 18:56.21 * 200 Breaststroke: Matthew Rogers | 9th | 2:25.54 * 200 IM: Anis Yahi | 9th | 2:00.29 * |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 4th Head Coach: Betsy Leonard Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: None Second Team: None Third Team: Jack Dickerson, AJ Howard, Zach Stephan 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 3rd | 406.0 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 100 Butterfly: Zach Stephan | 5th | 0:53.34 * 100 Breaststroke: Jack Dickerson | 6th | 1:04.12 * 100 Butterfly: AJ Howard | 6th | 0:53.48 * 100 Back: Zach Stephan | 6th | 0:54.91 * 100 Back: Hudson Elmore | 7th | 0:56.01 * 100 Butterfly: Hudson Elmore | 7th | 0:54.21 * 200 Butterfly: Hudson Elmore | 7th | 1:58.57 * 200 Back: Anthony Vinson | 7th | 2:04.95 * |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 5th Head Coach: Taylor Steele Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: None Second Team: Oscar Onoszko Third Team: None 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 5th | 208.0 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 200 Breaststroke: Oscar Onoszko | 4th | 2:13.37 * 50 Free: Daniel Bennett-Blake | 7th | 0:21.71 * 100 Back: Jeffrey Oliveri | 9th | 0:57.17 * 200 Free: Oscar Onoszko | 9th | 1:46.80 * 50 Free: Jeffrey Oliveri | 10th | 0:22.04 * 200 Butterfly: Andrew Scales | 10th | 2:13.14 * |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 2nd Head Coach: Brent Kintzer Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: Victor Kontopanos, Jordan Witherow Second Team: None Third Team: Matt Howard, Bryan McCarthy, Connor Seif 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 2nd | 635.5 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 100 Back: Ivan Fadeyev | 1st | 0:52.77 200 Back: Ivan Fadeyev | 1st | 1:54.41 200 Butterfly: Victor Kontopanos | 1st | 1:51.74 * 500 Free: Jordan Witherow | 1st | 4:44.10 * 1650 Free: Jordan Witherow | 1st | 16:34.38 * |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 3rd Head Coach: Scott Thacker Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: None Second Team: Nick McGrath Third Team: Ethan Gordon 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 4th | 294 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 100 Breaststroke: Nick McGrath | 4th | 1:00.56 * 200 Breaststroke: Ethan Gordon | 6th | 2:17.16 * 1650 Free: Jacob David | 6th | 18:38.05 * 400 IM: Jacob David | 7th | 4:42.94 * 100 Butterfly: Ethan Gordon | 8th | 0:55.41 * 50 Free: Nick McGrath | 8th | 0:21.87 * |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 10th Head Coach: Mike Ginder Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: None Second Team: None Third Team: None 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 9th | 119.0 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 50 Free: Kristian Rinkus | 11th | 0:22.32 1650 Free: Patrick McKneely | 15th | 21:53.19 * 100 Breaststroke: Kristian Rinkus | 15th | 1:08.74 100 Free: Kristian Rinkus | 15th | 0:50.66 1650 Free: Matthew Bavuso | 16th | 24:08.78 * 200 Free: Stephen Carlo | 16th | 1:58.98 200 Breaststroke: Kyle Woolf | 16th | 2:43.71 * |
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2018-19 Poll Position: 1st Head Coach: Kami Gardner Returning All-ODAC Swimmers First Team: Ben Brown, Danny Lynch, Jared Nickodem, Fitz Rawls, Patrick Sullivan, Jonathan Tucker Second Team: Sam Childress, Patrick Lawrence, Brian Legarth, Conner Van Vooren Third Team: Bancks Holmes 2018 ODAC Champs Finish: 1st | 1,031.5 pts. 2018 ODAC Champs | Top-5 Individual Performances 100 Breaststroke: Ethan Fischer | 1st | 0:57.99 200 Breaststroke: Ethan Fischer | 1st | 2:09.09 200 IM: Jared Nickodem | 1st | 1:53.76 * 400 IM: Jared Nickodem | 1st | 4:06.72 * 100 Butterfly: Noah Schammel | 1st | 0:51.05 200 Free: Patrick Sullivan | 1st | 1:38.77 * 50 Free: Tommy Thetford | 1st | 0:20.32 100 Free: Tommy Thetford | 1st | 0:44.48 |